


as the sun rises

by littlelamplight, SupergaySupercat (octoplods)



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Krypton au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 21:23:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11388699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlelamplight/pseuds/littlelamplight, https://archiveofourown.org/users/octoplods/pseuds/SupergaySupercat
Summary: Alex escapes the death of her world in the arms of an alien, and even as she finds refugee on a foreign world, she finds she's not safe to love her.Not yet.





	as the sun rises

**Author's Note:**

> obviously with Krypton being fine and flourishing, there are several changes. i've played around with Kara's age and origin, and in this she's the same age as she is in the show. alura and zor-el are good friends who never married, but they used the codex to create kara because alura wanted a child and he was happy to help out. the twins raised kara together, and she's of the house of ze.

 

  


Alex doesn’t watch her planet die. 

 

She can’t. She can’t watch everything she’s ever known go up in flames, she can’t watch her world crack and split apart, and maybe she should, maybe she should lift her head and bare witness to the end, but she can’t. She can’t, and it’s taking everything she has not to fall apart as it is. 

 

Astra’s shoulder is strong and warm, and for now, it offers safety, and shelter, and Alex presses as close as she can, like she can pretend, just for now, just for a moment, that nothing has changed. 

 

It’d be easier if Lena would stop crying. 

 

Astra’s hand runs up her back, her fingers pressing and massaging at her shoulders, and her lips brush against her ear when she murmurs, ‘sleep, Alex. The journey will be quicker if you do’. 

 

Alex takes a deep, shuddering breath, and turns her head slightly, enough to rub at her eyes, to dislodge tears from her eyelashes. Irritation is curling in her belly, and she knows she doesn’t have any place being angry at a child for crying, for crying when they all have every reason to cry, but she can’t help it. ‘I can’t sleep with that racket’.

 

Astra’s lips press against her forehead, and she says, ‘perhaps I could go entertain her? Children like tend to like me’. 

 

Alex shakes her head, pressing her nose against the hollow of Astra’s throat. She tightens her arms around the woman, her fingers curling in the heavy material of her robes, and she mumbles, ‘no, no, it’s okay’. 

 

Astra hums softly, the vibration echoing somewhere in her bones, and she murmurs, ‘rest, Alex. I will still be here when you wake’. 

 

Alex shivers. She listens to Lillian’s efforts to calm her small daughter, to the faint, almost unnoticeable hum of the alien craft, to the low murmur of conversation between James and Winn, and Astra’s arms wrap around her. Her fingers lift to stroke through her hair, and Alex mumbles, ‘I wasn’t… I wasn’t sure if you’d come for us’. 

 

Astra lifts her hand, her fingers pressing gently against her chin until Alex looks up at her. The woman’s eyes are sad and serious in the dim light, her mouth pinched in sorrow, and she strokes her thumb over her cheek. ‘I’m sorry I made you doubt that’, she says softly, regret heavy in her voice. ‘I am sorry that was I delayed’. 

 

Alex shakes her head slightly, lifting her hand to run her fingers over Astra’s jaw, splaying her hand against her neck, where she can feel her pulse under her fingers, strong and steady. ‘Are you going to get into trouble for this?’ 

 

The woman hums again, and Alex closes her eyes, savouring the feeling as it vibrates in her chest, lulling her into a sense of ease that Astra’s presence has always carried, regardless of their current situation. ‘Probably’, she says, and Alex feels her throat tighten at the thought, ‘the High Council was very clear in it's orders’. 

 

‘I’m sorry’. Tears are brimming in her eyes, and Alex knows that she can’t fight it forever. Her planet, and everything she’s ever known, her home, is gone, and she can’t ignore that. But its easier to focus on this, right now. 

 

Astra scoffs, that dismissive, sharp sound, and Alex almost manages a smile at the familiarity of it. It’s a faint, almost instinctive twitch of her lips, a memory, rather than a choice. ‘They can disapprove all they want, Alex. I was not going to leave you to die’. 

 

Alex rubs at her eyes. ‘Thanks’, she mumbles, at a loss for what else to say. She turns her head slightly, just to see the others, to see that she wasn’t the only survivor. 

 

Cat is standing by Kara at the front of the craft, and Kara’s hands are gesturing to the panel, her fingers moving in faint flickering motions, like she’s telling Cat how to pilot the craft. At least Cat’s keeping herself busy. Lucy hasn’t moved from her position by the window. She’s staring out, still, even though Alex is sure that there is nothing left to see, and Alex feels like she’s prying when she sees the tears on her friend’s face. 

 

She turns her head to press her face against Astra’s neck again, and Astra runs her fingers gently through her hair. ‘Really’, she says softly, ‘thank you. You didn’t have to come’. 

 

Astra sighs heavily. She presses a soft kiss to her forehead, her lips lingering at her temple, and murmurs, ‘of course I did, Alex’. 

 

Alex squeezes her eyes shut, a sound like a whine tearing from her lips to muffle against Astra’s skin. She doesn’t say anything, but she lets Astra hold her, hold her close, and there is a small part of her, buried beneath her grief, that is thankful that, despite everything, she has this. 

 

She has Astra. 

 

That counts for something. 

 

It has to. 

 

~ ~ ~

 

‘Mom’. Kara’s hand grips her shoulder, shakes lightly. ‘Mom, we’re home’. 

 

Astra jerks awake, blinking blearily up at Kara. She frowns slightly, becoming aware that the telltale hum of the craft in flight has ceased, taking in Kara’s words. ‘You shouldn’t have let me sleep’. 

 

Kara smiles, shaking her head slightly. ‘You needed it. Mom’s been saying so ever since you learned their planet was dying’. 

 

Astra shakes her head slightly, remembering how Alura’s brow has been pinched with worry lately, how her lack of sleep is showing beneath her eyes. ‘Alura’s the one who needs sleep’. 

 

‘I’ll let you two argue about that’. Kara nudges at her, gesturing to Alex, who has fallen asleep in her arms. ‘You good?’ 

 

Astra nods, her heart clenching painfully as she looks down at Alex, at her pale face, her mouth turned down, her brow furrowed slightly, as if her sleep is not a peaceful one. She stands, gathering Alex up carefully against her chest, and says softly, ‘the others?’ 

 

‘Exhausted, mainly’. Kara gestures to the back of the craft, where sunlight is streaming in, and Astra takes a deep breath, inhaling the sweet breeze, glad to be away from Earth’s oppressive air. She frowns slightly, guilt twisting in her stomach. Earth is gone, now. It’s gone, and she shouldn’t feel glad to be away from it. Kara’s mouth twists in sympathy, and she says, ‘they’ll have some time to rest. We all should. At least, if Mom and Aunt Lara’s plan worked’. 

 

Astra smiles slightly, shifting her grip on Alex as they walk down the ramp so as not to jostle her. ‘Your mother’s always had a way with words. Have a little faith’. 

 

Kara frowns slightly. She reaches out to stop her, her hand curling gently around her arm, and her voice is low when she says, ‘Mom… listen, if you’re going to get into trouble for this… maybe I should take the blame’. 

 

Astra stops, her spine stiffening, and Alex makes a sleepy sound against her neck. She takes a deep breath, forcing herself to relax, to press down the panic that rises at Kara’s words, and says, ‘no, Little One. Your suggestion, if foolish, is noble, but they can do far worse to a young scientist than they can to a decorated military general’. 

 

Kara sighs. She runs her hand through her hair, glancing over to where Alura and Lara ushered their guests indoors, and murmurs, ‘I just… I don’t like the idea of you being punished for doing the right thing’. Her frown deepens. ‘What if they strip you of your rank?’ 

 

Astra doesn’t shrug, wary of rousing Alex, but she smiles, and begins walking again. ‘There are worse things, Little One. I’ll still have you, and Alura’. She glances down at Alex, and her smile slips away. ‘And I have more important things to do than fight another war at the moment’. 

 

Alura greets them at the door, pulling Kara into a quick embrace, and her gentle face creases in concern when she sees Alex in her arms. ‘Is she alright?’ 

 

Astra leans forward to kiss her sister’s cheek. ’She’s simply tired, sister’.

 

Her sister frowns, twisting her fingers together anxiously. ‘I cannot promise that she will have time to rest’. 

 

Kara shifts, worry furrowing her brow. ’The talks didn’t go well?’

 

Alura casts her a quick glance, and Astra grits her teeth. She knows that look. ‘Little One’, she says, ‘would you take Alex to my room? Try not to wake her’. 

 

Kara nods. Astra passes Alex over gently, adjusting the woman so that her head rests securely against Kara’s shoulder. She indulges for a moment, letting herself brush Alex’s hair back from her forehead, her fingers lingering against the woman’s cheek. Kara smiles knowingly. ’Should I stay with her? She might panic if she wakes alone in a strange place’. 

 

Astra nods, stepping back reluctantly. ‘Thank you’. 

 

She watches Kara walk off with Alex held carefully in her arms, and then turns to her sister. ‘Talk to me’. 

 

Alura gestures. ‘Let us walk’. 

 

Together, they step out the door, turning to walk along the balcony that runs around the side of the manor. Astra gazes out over the rolling hills towards the Jewel Mountains on the horizon, green and vivid under the bright sun, letting some of the tension drain from her. She’s home. They’re home. They succeeded in their mission. Come what may, Alex is alive. 

 

Alura reaches out, tangling their fingers together, and Astra smiles slightly. She turns to face her sister, resting back against the solid stone rail, and runs her thumbs over her sister’s knuckles. ‘How did it go?’ 

 

Alura shrugs slightly. ‘No one noticed your departure, as you hoped. The benefits of rank and position’. She glances towards the aircraft, still and silent on the private runway, and murmurs, ‘and they didn’t stop you returning, which is a good sign’. 

 

‘But?’ 

 

Alura sighs. ‘Our talks were, in their mind, strictly hypothetical. They had no knowledge that you were off actually rescuing humans from their dying planet. Lara is… good at what she does, and so am I. Between the two of us, we were able to argue for temporary asylum, under the protection of our houses. Hypothetically, of course’. 

 

Astra feels her heart leap, and a smile curves her lips. ‘So they’re safe?’ 

 

Alura shrugs again. ‘For now, at least. The High Council won’t be happy that we tricked them, you know that. Trouble may come knocking’. 

 

Astra makes a face. ‘Politicians’. 

 

‘Careful, now, Astra’, Lara steps out onto the balcony, her lips quirked in a faint smile, ‘none of this would have been possible without my help’. 

 

Astra scoffs. ‘You’re the only decent politician I know, Lara. The rest are still… dull’. 

 

Alura smiles, her eyes warm with affection, and leans against the banister beside her. ‘How are they?’ 

 

Lara turns serious. She runs a hand over her face, through her short hair and down to rub at the back of her neck. ‘They’re… well… they seem to be handling it differently. Lillian’s focused on taking care of Lena. The others… I’m not really sure if they’ve processed it’. 

 

‘How can they?’ Alura’s voice is small and sad, her brow pinched in concern, and Astra lifts a hand to rub at her back automatically. ‘They’ve lost everything. That’s not… I can’t even begin to imagine how that feels’. 

 

Lara sighs. ‘I’ve contacted Kal. He and Lois will be arriving soon’. The corner of her mouth ticks up in a faint smile. ‘At least Lucy has someone’. 

 

‘They all have someone’, Astra says softly, thinking of Alex, the way she tasted the first time they kissed, with ice cream still cold on their lips, the way their fingers fit together easily, like hers weren’t scarred from battle, the easy way the woman’s body pressed against her own, like she wanted nothing more but to stay there. She takes a deep breath, and lets it out slowly. ‘They need time, and support. And stability’. 

 

‘They’ll have it’. Alura’s jaw is set in that fiercely determined look she gets whenever she’s facing a particularly difficult case, that look that Kara has inherited, and Astra almost smiles. ‘They have the right to be here. We’ll argue for that right in court for as long as we have to’. 

 

Lara smiles. ‘Maybe they’ll get so tired of us that they’ll just give up’. 

 

They all know it won’t be that simple.

 

~ ~ ~

 

Alex wakes to music. It trickles through her consciousness slowly, colouring her dreams with a rich, strange melody, something foreign and profoundly beautiful. She stirs slowly, turning her face against sheets so soft she imagines she’s lying on a cloud, her body heavy and cocooned in the sky. But the sound doesn’t stop, and she blinks groggily, cracking her eyes open to peer out from under her arm. 

 

There is light. It’s golden and clear and beautiful, spilling through open windows and across the bed, and it’s only then that Alex remembers. 

 

She’s on Krypton, and Earth is gone.  

 

Her throat burns, her eyes blurring with tears, and she sits up, rubbing at her eyes until she sees spots. She doesn’t want to cry. If she starts, she’s not sure she’ll be able to stop, and she doesn’t know if it’s safe to grief. She doesn’t know if it’s safe at all, despite her comfortable surroundings. 

 

And the music. 

 

It sounds like singing. Soft, melodic, almost hypnotic, and she runs a hand through her hair before she slips quietly from the bed. She stands on the balls of her feet, prepared to move quickly if she must, even though she has no idea, as yet, of where she’d go. She closes her eyes, tilting her head slightly in an attempt to locate the source of the music. Maybe she’ll find answers there. 

 

But the sound seems to be coming from outside, not from further in the house. Or wherever she is.  

 

She opens her eyes, and moves slowly towards the window. The stone sill is wide, flowers spilling from pots hanging from the edge, vivid, exotic looking things that are nevertheless familiar to her. She leans her hands on the smooth sill, leaning out in an attempt to locate the source of the music, when the sounds, the song, floods her ears, and she looks down. 

 

The flowers are singing. 

 

‘ _ Surrus blossoms _ ’, Alex turns quickly, her heart leaping up into her throat at the sound of Astra’s familiar voice. The woman stands in the doorway, leaning against the solid frame, her hand propped on her hip, and there is an ease in her stance that was never there on Earth. There is an odd look in her eye, almost careful, her expression soft, but she’s not smiling. ‘Singing flowers. I hoped that they would… soothe you’. 

 

Alex swallows tightly. Astra’s expression is undeniably tender, the corners of her eyes creased in concern, and Alex feels something in her chest crack. She moves quickly, throwing herself forward, and Astra’s arms come up to catch her, to hold her against her body easily, and Alex buries her face against Astra’s shoulder, and bursts into tears. 

 

Astra cups the back of her head, her hand pressed to the small of her back, and whispers, ‘I’m here’. 

 

Alex clings to her, her fingers clutching at her robes, the velvety material warm under her hands, and she’s shaking so badly she feels like she might fall apart. ‘It’s really gone, isn’t it?’ 

 

There was a strange sense of numbness, when Kara told her that her planet was dying. A strange sense of horrified disbelief, when Lillian confirmed it. She was faced with an alien scientist with technology far ahead of their own, telling her that her world was going to die, and confirmation from a human scientist who had worked closely with her dad for years trying to find a solution. 

 

And there was no solution. 

 

There was just an end, and even as Alex scrambled to get her friends together, even as she asked Kara for help, even as Kara told her that Astra wouldn’t let her die, she couldn’t quite believe it. Knowing, and believing, are two very different things. 

 

It wasn’t until Astra arrived, all wild, desperate eyes and calm, collected demeanor, until she and Kara had ushered everyone into their small ship, until she hid against Astra’s shoulder as they left her dying world, that it really began to sink in. 

 

And now she’s here. On an alien world, in an alien’s arms, listening to alien music issuing from an alien plant, and it’s real. 

 

Her home is gone. 

 

‘I am sorry, Alex’, Astra’s lips press against her temple, her hands running up and down her back, over her flimsy shirt, and Alex realises that she didn’t bring any other clothes with her. ‘I’m so sorry’. 

 

Alex sniffs, her teeth digging into Astra’s robes, trying to muffle her sobs, and mumbles, ‘is this your room?’ 

 

‘No’, Astra’s hand drifts up to clasp the back of her neck, her fingers working gently at her muscles. ‘I had Kara place you in my room, but I… I thought perhaps you would want your own space. Besides, the  _ surrus blossoms _ are known to be soothing. I thought perhaps their influence would allow you to rest peacefully’. 

 

Alex blinks, leaning back to look at Astra, and it's silly, really, the way hope curls between her ribs. ‘You mean we can stay here?’ 

 

Astra nods, her thumb stroking over her cheek to wipe away her tears. ‘For the time being, at least. Temporary asylum under the protection of our houses’.

 

Alex swallows, fear jolting in her gut. ‘And.. later?’ 

 

Astra sighs heavily. She rests their foreheads together, and says softly, ‘Alura and Lara will do their best. And their best is very good. They'll do everything they can to ensure you stay’. She tilts her head to kiss her cheek, and murmurs, ‘tell me how I can help you’.

 

Alex takes a deep breath, hiccups, wiping uselessly at her eyes, and mumbles, ‘can we… can we go to your room? Just… just hold me?’ 

 

The woman nods, her grip shifting, and she lifts Alex easily into her arms. Alex feels her gut swoop at the casual display of strength, and she wraps her arms around Astra’s neck, breathing shakily against her shoulder, glad that her sobs have ceased for now. ‘I have you, Alex’, she says softly, ‘I have you’. 

 

Alex swallows tightly, and whispers, ‘I know’. She squeezes her eyes shut as tears burn the back of her eyes. Among all the uncertainty, among all the loss and grief and everything that has gone wrong, at least one, single point of stability in her life still. 

 

~ ~ ~

 

Just as Astra predicted, there are consequences for her actions, for defying direct orders from the High Council not to intervene in Earth’s destruction. She returns from her sentencing looking tired and drawn out, but her smile is honest when she says, ‘it could’ve been worse’. 

 

‘Well?’ Alura asks, shifting anxiously from foot to foot, her lips pressed together in a thin line. ‘What did they decide?’ 

 

‘Stripped of all decorations’, she says, stretching out languidly across the couch as if she doesn’t have a care in the world, ‘suspended from active duty until further notice’. 

 

Alura blinks, the tension in her stance loosening, the relief in her face coloring with surprise, and it still startles Alex, sometimes, how alike they look, and yet how easy it is to tell them apart. ‘That’s all?’ 

 

Astra snorts, draping an arm over her eyes. ‘Like I said, it could’ve been much worse’. 

 

Alex sits down beside Astra, the ever present ache constricting her ribs easing as the woman draws her into an embrace. Alex sighs, resting her head against the woman’s shoulder, lifting her hand to play absently with her long hair. ‘I still don’t understand why they wanted to punish you for doing the right thing’. 

 

Astra glances at Alura over Alex’s head, and her sister nods slightly. She slips away quietly, and Astra presses her lips to Alex’s forehead. ‘My people… most of us, especially our elders, believe that everything is as Rao wills it to be. In their minds, your planet was… supposed to die’. 

 

Alex feels her gut clench, anger rolling up into her stomach, and she pulls away from Astra, standing so quickly it leaves her dizzy. Her shoulders hunch, and she says, ‘seriously? They consider the death of millions of people to be… just… fate?’ 

 

Astra watches her carefully, sitting up to lean her elbows on her knees. She didn’t expect this to be easy for Alex, especially since she herself couldn’t come to terms with the High Council’s orders. ‘Things might have been different, if we’d found out sooner. If your people aren’t surviving elsewhere’. 

 

Alex curls her fists tighter. ‘The colonies’, she spits, and it feels like a curse in her mouth, ‘does your High Council know that they refused to help us?’ Her jaw sets, her nails digging so hard into her palms that it hurts. ‘Not enough room’, she hisses, ‘too many people, not enough time, not enough resources, how would they decide who to save and who to leave behind? Endless fucking excuses’. 

 

‘I know’, Astra says softly, and a tremor runs through Alex’s body. ‘There was… there was on way to save all your people. To save your planet. Your colonies wouldn’t help. We… we didn’t not find out in time to do anything… useful. They… your world was doomed, Alex. They… they saw no reason to allow me to save any of you. In their eyes, Rao had ensured the survival of your species through your many offworld colonies. Why would he spare a mere few of you?’ 

 

Alex’s throat tightens, and she turns away, walking on shaky legs to one of the wide arched windows that lets in the magnificent view surrounding the country manor. She gazes out towards the Jewel Mountains glittering under the bright sun, and takes a shuddering breath. ‘Then why did you save us? Why come to save us if your people believed that we were supposed to die?’ 

 

For a moment, Astra is silent, and Alex presses her hands against the stone, her body so tense that she thinks she might be trembling. The silence stretches on, and Alex is just beginning to wonder if Astra has left the room, when the woman speaks, closer than before, and Alex almost jumps. ‘Because I could save you. I could save some of you. I had the opportunity, the desire, and the means to do so. If my elders believed that you were meant to die because your world was doomed, then I chose to believe I was meant to save you, because I could’. 

 

Alex lets out a long, shaky breath. Her anger is beginning to drain, and she makes an effort to uncurl her hands. Astra is not deserving of her anger. There is no one  _ left _ to be deserving of her anger. All the people who held the fate of her home,  _ their _ home, in their hands, are dead, or living on colonies she wants nothing to do with. She leans her shoulder against the stone arch, and closes her eyes. ‘That’s... a good answer’. 

 

Astra’s hand touches her hip, a barely noticeable touch, a silent question, and Alex takes her hand to draw the woman’s arm around her. Astra sighs softly, wrapping her other arm around her waist, her hands pressing against her stomach, and Alex leans back against her. Astra props her chin on her shoulder, and says softly, ‘it’s the truth. I believe that is partly why the High Council didn’t punish me too harshly. They couldn’t fault my reasoning’. 

 

Alex turns her head, pressing her nose against Astra’s hair, letting herself be soothed by the woman’s presence. ‘But they still want to send us away?’

 

Astra sighs again, her fingers tracing absent patterns over her hip. ‘That is my fault, I’m afraid. Refugees are more than welcome here, but I brought you all here against direct orders’. She chuckles wryly. ‘If I had rescued you without asking, perhaps it would’ve been simpler’. 

 

Alex closes her eyes. For a moment, she doesn’t say anything. Astra begins a slow rocking motion, humming softly under her breath, and Alex feels the tension slowly drain from her shoulders. She can feel the woman’s fingers moving over her skin through her thin shirt, and she traces Astra’s knuckles absently. ‘Have I mentioned that I’m glad you didn’t listen?’ 

 

Astra turns her head, and presses a kiss to her cheek, her lips curved in a faint smile. ‘There’s always been a bit of a rebel in me’. 

 

Alex turns in her arms, and kisses her. She lifts her hands to cup Astra’s face, her fingers curling in her hair, and Astra’s lips part beneath her own as willingly as the first time they kissed, when all Alex was worried about was whether Astra would return her kiss, whether the woman liked the taste of ice cream, before her world began to end. 

 

Astra’s hand slides to the small of her back, pulling her close, her fingers tangling in her hair, her tongue gentle and probing, and Alex lets herself melt against the strength of her body. Her fingers drift down, curling in the hood of the woman’s robes, and she pulls away slightly. She rests her forehead against Astra’s cheek, and mumbles, ‘I think… I think it’s time I changed’. 

 

She’s been wearing the same clothes she wore when they escaped Earth for two weeks now, and Astra has washed them and returned them without question every time. She hasn’t insisted that she change, or offered her new clothes, but taken Alex’s silence whenever she hands them over to be washed as a sign that she wants to keep wearing them. Now, the woman frowns slightly, smoothing her hand up and down her spine. ‘There is no rush, Alex’.

 

Alex smiles slightly. ‘I know. But I want to. Maybe… just don’t throw them out?’ 

 

Astra chuckles quietly, tilting her chin up to kiss her briefly. ‘Of course. I shall guard them closely’. 

 

Alex snorts, her smile widening despite herself, and she allows Astra to take her hand to lead her towards her room. ‘Have you always been so dramatic?’ 

 

Astra huffs faintly, squeezing her hand, and Alex feels a little lighter for the gleam in the woman’s eyes. ‘Your friend Lucy called me… extra?’ 

 

Alex laughs, and it feels good, god it feels good to laugh again. It’s been so long since she laughed that she almost wondered if she remembered how. Astra smiles, beautiful and pleased, and tugs her into her room. She releases Alex’s hand to cross to her cupboard, and says, ‘I picked out a few things for you a while ago’. She turns around with a folded set of deep blue robes in her hands, and presses them into Alex’s hands. ‘And you can buy your own, or at least, I can buy some for you, when you like’. 

 

Alex tugs her shirt over her head to discard it on the bed, shoving her jeans down her legs until she’s standing in her underwear, and Astra freezes. Alex shoots her a glance, grinning at the way the woman’s eyes have darkened slightly, the faint blush high on her cheeks, and says, ‘come on, General. It’s not like you haven’t seen me naked before’. 

 

Astra huffs, reaching out to trail her fingers over the line of her collarbone, and Alex shivers slightly. ‘You’re beautiful’, the woman says simply, breathing the words into the charged air between them, ‘I will never grow used to that’. 

 

Alex ducks forward to kiss her, brief and searing, leaving Astra breathless when she pulls away, and the corners of her lips tug in a smile as she holds out the robes. ‘Help me with this?’ 

 

Astra’s mouth quirks, and she moves to stand behind her, helping her tug it down over her body, helping her with the ties, her hands wandering in a way that is clearly deliberate, smoothing the fabric over her hips, up over her ribs, linking the belt at the small of her back, and Alex can feel the heat in her cheeks by the time the woman releases her, and moves to stand in front of her. The corners of her eyes crinkle, her smile easy and soft, and she sounds pleased when she says, ‘it suits you’. 

 

Alex reaches up to cup Astra’s face in her hands, and kisses her again. Astra hums, against her lips, her fingers lifting to cradle her face, fingers curled under her chin, cupping the back of her neck, and she murmurs, ‘don’t you want to see?’ 

 

She shakes her head, pressing her lips insistently against Astra’s until the woman groans softly, and she says, ‘I trust your judgement’. 

 

The woman kisses her, deep and hot, her tongue running over her bottom lip, and they both know that the words carry weight. 

 

Astra knows that Alex is telling her that she trusts her. 

 

Alex wonders if she also knows that she loves her. 

 

~ ~ ~

 

‘You’re home late’. 

 

Astra isn’t surprised to find Kara sitting on the bench in the kitchen. It’s late, but her niece tends to eat whenever she’s worried, and they’re all strung out from the continued uncertainty of whether they’re going to lose people they’ve come to care deeply for. 

 

She shrugs, pushing down her hood as she steps towards the cooler. ‘I ordered a delivery from one of Earth’s colonies a while ago. It just arrived, and I wanted to get it quickly’. 

 

Kara tilts her head, swinging her legs back and forth like a child. ‘What is it?’ 

 

‘Ice cream’. 

 

Kara makes a delighted sound, and Astra holds up her hand. ‘No, Kara’, she says firmly, ignoring her niece’s crestfallen expression, ‘it’s for Alex’. 

 

A knowing look gleams in Kara’s eyes, and she says lightly, ‘wasn’t your first kiss over ice cream?’

 

Astra groans softly. ‘I must remember not to tell Alura such things’. 

 

Kara laughs, sliding off the counter to hug her. ‘She’s just happy for you’. 

Astra smiles slightly, running her fingers gently through Kara’s hair. ‘Where is your mother?’ 

 

‘I’d like to say that she’s in bed, but if we’re going with the usual, she’s probably fallen asleep at her desk again’. Kara nuzzles against her shoulder, sighing heavily, and Astra thinks of how she was as a child, leaning against her shoulder while she determinedly tried to stay awake as Astra pointed to the constellations shining bright and clear in the heavens. ‘At least Lucy’s helping her’. 

 

A cry splits the silence, and Kara jerks away from her with a wide eyed look. ‘Was that Mom?’ 

 

Astra bolts, her heart slamming up into her throat, alarm spiking adrenaline along her veins, and for a wild moment she imagines that the High Council might’ve sent people to deal with the problem they represent through force. She skids into her sister’s office, her knees bending in a defensive stance, but it takes her only a matter of seconds to realise she misjudged the noise. 

 

Alura is spinning around in the centre of her office with Lucy held in her arms, the woman clinging to her neck and grinning against her shoulder, and as Astra watches incredulously, her laughing sister spins Lucy high enough to knock several books off her desk. Her own lips tug in a smile, and she leans against the doorframe to watch. ‘What are you celebrating?’ 

 

Alura almost drops Lucy, heat rushing up to darken her cheeks, and she coughs slightly, folding her hands in front of her, but her smile is wide and beautiful and there is joy gleaming in her eyes. ‘We won’, she says, breathless with relief, ‘we won, sister. Lara just contacted me. The High Council has conceded. They can stay’. 

 

For a moment, Astra just stares at her sister, and beside her, Kara lets out a joyful shout, running forward to hug Lucy, and Astra can feel her lips stretching into a smile that is almost painful it’s so wide. She laughs, then, a rich sound that starts somewhere in her belly and echoes deep in her chest, free and honest for the first time in a long time, she can feel tears pricking the corners of her eyes. 

 

Alex can stay. 

 

She turns on her heel, and rushes through the manor, bursting into her own bedroom, her robes whirling around her, and she rushes over to the bed and climbs onto it, reaching for Alex and shaking her shoulder, forgetting to be gentle in her eagerness to wake her. Alex jerks awake with a muffled, grumbling protest, rolling onto her back and hiding her eyes behind her hand. ‘Mmm? Astra? What time is it?’ 

 

Astra leans down, nosing at her cheek, peppering soft kisses over her neck, and Alex blinks, wrapping an arm around her neck. ‘Wake up, Alex’, she whispers, her hair falling down to frame her face, brushing against Alex’s face, ‘I have good news’. 

 

Alex sighs, sitting up against the pillows to rub at her eyes, blinking bleerily. ‘At this hour?’ 

 

Astra shifts forward on her knees, and cups Alex’s face in her hands. ‘The High Council conceded, Alex. You can stay’. 

 

Alex’s lips part, her eyes widening, and for a moment, she just stares at her. Astra strokes her thumbs over the woman’s cheekbones, waiting for her to absorb the information, letting her eyes wander over her, and Rao, Alex is beautiful. She’s been to countless galaxies and endless worlds, seen wonders that most people cannot even imagine, and yet there is nothing more beautiful to her than seeing Alex like this, lying back in her bed, her sleeping shift glowing under the soft light spilling in through the window, her hair tousled, and then, there, a smile as bright and uplifting as Rao’s blessing. 

 

Alex leans forward, resting their foreheads together, and reaches up to cup her face. She breathes out, a shaky, slow breath, and murmurs, ‘I… god, I… I wasn’t sure if they’d ever come to a decision’. 

 

Astra shuts her eyes, basking in Alex’s presence and the relief intertwining around them. ‘I was afraid they’d make the wrong one’. 

 

Alex laughs, a choked, beautiful sound, and tilts her head up to press their lips together. Astra kisses her back, slowly, because there is no rush, now. Alex is not about to be shipped off to a colony where she doesn’t know a soul, to be with her people even though those very people deserted her home. She can stay. 

 

And Astra is free to love her. 

 

She sighs, staying close to Alex when she pulls away, and she murmurs, ‘Alex… I know that this doesn’t… make everything better. And I will never ask you to call this place your home, or to expect you to simply… recover from what you’ve lost. You may never recover, and that… as painful as that is, that is okay. But you will always have my bed to rest in, and my support, and my love, for however long you need it’. 

 

Alex pulls back to stare at her, the corner of her mouth quirked in a smile even as her eyes shine, and she breathes, ‘your love, huh?’ 

 

Astra nods, earnest and determined for Alex to understand her meaning. ‘I have loved you for a long time now, Alex, but I had no wish to… to make you feel like you had to stay. That I was rescuing you simply to make you feel obligated to love me back. That I-’ 

 

Alex silences her with a kiss, deep and searing, and Astra moans softly into her mouth. Alex’s fingers run through her thick hair, pushing it out of her face, sliding along the line of her jaw, and she holds her chin firmly between her thumb and forefinger when she pulls away. She kisses her nose, her cheek, the corner of her mouth, and bites her lip slightly. She shakes her head, and says, the affection in her eyes softening her words, ‘I love you too, you silly alien’. 

 

Astra huffs, a mock affronted sound, and says, ‘who are you calling alien, alien?’ 

 

Alex laughs, loud and beautiful, and wraps her arms around her neck. She kisses the side of her neck, and murmurs, ‘come to bed, alien’. 

 

Astra sheds her robes to slip under the sheets, drawing Alex into her arms to whisper words of unending love against her skin, and Alex thinks that even though she can’t call Krypton her home, yet, maybe this, the circle of Astra’s arms, is the only home she really needs. 

**Author's Note:**

> and they lived happily ever after and got married in the most extravagant robes ever and alura cried like a baby


End file.
